Claiming To Be Sick, Ambon City Mayor Richard Louhenapessy Turns Out He Was Traveling In Jakarta

Press conference of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) naming Ambon Mayor Richard Louhenapessy as a suspect / PHOTO: Wardhany Tsa Tsia-VOI

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said Ambon Mayor Richard Louhenapessy was forcibly arrested at a private hospital in West Jakarta today.

The pick-up was done because based on the surveillance carried out, Richard was found to be in good health. In fact, according to the Deputy for Enforcement and Execution of the KPK Karyoto, Richard had time to walk in a mall in Jakarta.

"A few days before we made this pick-up, our team also carried out surveillance, and coincidentally the person in question was in Jakarta," Karyoto said at a press conference at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Friday, May 13.

Karyoto said Richard was indeed undergoing treatment to treat his leg. But, he just needed to remove the stitches and inject antibiotics.

"Then (after treatment, ed) still had time to walk at the mall. This means that he is in good health," he said.

Not only from the results of surveillance, the KPK confirmed that Richard's condition was healthy after consulting a doctor. "We ordered the investigators, try asking the team of doctors to ask the extent of the pain," said Karyoto.

He said the KPK would give the sick suspects time to recover first. Moreover, Richard's attorney has requested a postponement of the detention due to conditions.

However, forced pick-ups are still carried out because they are based on conditions in the field. Moreover, when he was present at the KPK's Red and White Building, Richard's condition was healthy.

"He's still standing tonight, right, 20 minutes or so he's still healthy. If people are not healthy, maybe their vitals can be seen, maybe their blood pressure, appearance, etc. and are declared unfit for examination," said Karyoto.

"So ultimately, we investigators think that the person concerned deserves to be investigated and detained," he added.

As previously reported, the KPK named Richard Louhenapessy as a suspect for receiving bribes along with the administrative staff of the Ambon City Government (Pemkot), Andrew Erin Hehanusa.

Meanwhile, as the provider, the KPK named an Alfamidi employee named Amri as a suspect. The anti-corruption commission suspects that the bribe was given in connection with the permit for the construction of the Alfamidi mini market retail branch in 2020 in Ambon City and gratuities.

As a result of his actions, Richard Louhenapessy and his subordinate Andrew ended up languishing in two different KPK detention centers for the first 20 days until June 1.

Meanwhile, Amri has not yet been arrested. He was asked to cooperate to fulfill the investigator's summons which will be sent soon.